“Instantly disqualifying” -- unless you’re a Republican

[deminks]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201005190029

In the wake of yesterday’s New York Times article about Richard Blumenthal, The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder wrote that “Lying about it , even exaggerating about it, is therefore instantly disqualifying.” That, as I explained, isn’t always true -- it wasn’t disqualifying for George W. Bush, whose embellished military record didn’t much concern the news media.

Today, Bob Somerby provides another example of a non-disqualifying-exaggeration: current Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s repeated description of himself as a Gulf War veteran, despite the fact that the closest he came to the Gulf was South Carolina, where processing wills for soldiers who did deploy to the Gulf. Here’s Somerby:

What happened in 1998 when Graham, then a Republican congressman, was caught up in a much more extensive version of this mess? Graham had endlessly told the world that he was a “Gulf War veteran,” although his service during that period hadn’t taken him off the east coast. (The east coast of the U.S.) By the way: In Graham’s case, we weren’t discussing a single misstatement from a single, two-year-old speech; Graham had endlessly presented himself as a “Gulf War veteran.”

…

Graham should refer to himself as a ''Gulf War era veteran,” we were told—and that’s pretty much the basis on which this flame was allowed to blow out. The flap about Graham blew over quickly, helped along by this sage advice. The fiery young fellow was allowed to proceed with the important business of impeaching the president.

(end snip)

[Dawson Leery]

1. k/r